Kaleido Star: Volume 4

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All Rise...

Judge Sandra Dozier admires the amazing restraint shown by these series animators, who manage not to constantly push the adorable seal mascot into the faces of viewers whenever possible. He actually shows up only in water scenes—go figure!

The Charge

Step right up and be amazed, ladies and gentlemen!

The Case

Kaleido Star is an optimistic anime that doesn't get too saccharine in
its storytelling. It's an anime about having dreams and not letting anything
stop you from seeing them come to fruition, but the message is that along the
way there is plenty of hard work, lessons to be learned, and a great opportunity
for growth. In the world of Kaleido Star (an essentially unrealistic
world that is nevertheless firmly rooted in reality) conflict means character
growth. For this reason, Kaleido Star avoids the trap of being too gauzy
and ethereal for its own good.

Lead character Sora Naegino travels from Japan to the United States to see
if she can perform on the Kaleido Stage, a dream of hers since she attended a
show with her parents when she was a child. She is traveling alone, which is
scary enough already, and her first experience after her arrival is to get lost
and then to have her suitcase stolen by a thief. She ends up chasing down the
thief, impressing a stranger who later turns out to be the owner of Kaleido
Star. Even though she is late for her audition (having been taken to the police
station after recovering her bag), he puts her on stage that very night,
untested and unrehearsed. She does her best, but her performance is less than
stellar, and the star of the show, Layla, is furious that she was even allowed
on stage. Sora is no more popular with the rest of the Kaleido Stage troupe, all
of whom had to go through a grueling audition to be allowed to train for an
eventual performance.

Despite this rocky start, she does make a few friends. Mr. Policeman, the
kind-hearted cop who helps Sora after her bag is taken, is her "Number One
fan," always coming to her shows. Then there is Ken, the teenage stage
manager, who falls for Sora when they meet for the first time but has trouble
telling her how he feels. Blonde, blue-eyed Ken has a weak heart and can't
perform on Kaleido Stage, so he applies his natural leadership abilities behind
the scenes. He isn't your typical boy-in-love character and doesn't lose his
cool around Sora to the extent that he can't do his job: He can be hard on her
when he needs to be, and he is a mentor to her as well as an invaluable source
of comfort and advice. She also makes friends with a couple of her peers who
recognize her fighting spirit and are drawn to her. Finally, there's Fool, a
living doll who calls himself the "Spirit of the Stage" and can only
be seen by Sora, who thinks she is going mad when she sees a tiny man walking
around and talking. Traditionally, anime characters are all-accepting of
mystical foot-tall living dolls and spirits, but Sora does what the rest of us
would do—she questions her sanity, then tries to bat Fool away. It's
hilarious to watch the two interact, and this provides much of the comic relief
in the show.

In Volume Four, Sora is off to perform in a traveling circus, even though
the rest of the troupe gets a well-deserved break. Ken goes along as her manager
and to offer his support. It turns out the circus is a small operation, with a
lazy rehearsal schedule and a tightly knit crew that fights like a family would.
One of the lead performers is an ex-Kaleido Stage veteran who doesn't welcome
Sora's presence at all. When Sora returns to Kaleido Stage, she is caught up in
a drama between dorm supervisor Sarah and owner Kalos and a planned exodus by
one of the most valued members of the Kaleido Stage. There is plenty of drama in
this volume, and it ends up with Sora's world being turned upside down, plunging
her head first into a new set of challenges that she will have to overcome.
Although the episodes become kind of grim toward the end, there's plenty of
humor in the earlier episodes, especially when Ken feels a love story between
Sora and another young performer in the circus show is "completely
unnecessary." Speaking as her manager, of course.

Kaleido Star has beautiful animation, with stage performances given
heavy drama and light effects that look great onscreen. Accordingly, the show
has a good-looking transfer that gives us a good depth of color and a clear
print. Sound quality is also high, with a clear, robust transfer and an English
dub that takes advantage of the surround sound nicely. There's a standard set of
extras, plus the palm-sized "standee" insert that has been a regular
in all the Kaleido Star releases. Although light on extras, the series
stands up by itself rather well, with a well-turned English dub and no re-used
animation (other than a few shots of Fool reading cards for Sora and brief
segments for repeat performances) in this tightly paced, fresh storyline.

Kaleido Star has the right attitude: Sora succeeds because she
recognizes what she has done well and what she needs to work on. She may go out
on stage and miss her final cue altogether, plummeting to the net. Instead of
seeing this as abject failure, however, she instead focuses on the middle of her
performance, which was difficult to achieve and hard won. She sees her success
there and vows to work on the finale. I found myself identifying with the way
she was able to recognize her success, make it the core of her strength, and use
it to help her overcome her failures. Sora doesn't always perfectly overcome the
challenges that she faces, but she never backs down, and gradually she earns the
respect, if not the good word, of the others involved.